Community leaders in the making
UFRSD students attend Junior National Young Leaders conference
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

Upper Freehold's Michael Anthony, 11, had fun at various monuments in and around Washington, D.C., during his recent trip to the Junior National Youth Leadership Conference.

ALLENTOWN - Two local 11-year-olds got a chance to use Washington, D.C., as their classroom to learn about what it takes to be a leader.

John Bardwil and Michael Anthony represented the Upper Freehold Regional School District at the Junior National Young Leaders Conference (JrNYLC) in Washington, D.C., June 17-22.

Bardwil, who will be entering sixth grade in the fall, and Anthony, who will be entering seventh, were nominated by their teachers to attend the conference based on their academic excellence, leadership potential and maturity.

JrNYLC aims to inspire and reinforce middle school students' virtues of leadership, citizenship and democracy. The key goal is to introduce the national scholars to the important leadership concepts, which Bardwil and Anthony described as character, communication, goal setting, respect, problem solving and teamwork.

Upper Freehold's John Bardwil, 11, enjoys looking at some artifacts during his recent trip to Washington, D.C., for the Junior National Youth Leadership Conference.

At the conference, the students examined leadership in a historical context with trips to historical sites such as Harpers Ferry and the nation's capital. They focused on applying critical leadership skills in a mock trial. The young scholars also explored ways to make a difference in their schools and communities with a culminating project on how to stop cliques and bullying.

During the conference, Bardwil and Anthony stayed in the dorms at the University of Maryland, where they roomed with students from California, Philadelphia, Louisiana and Tennessee. Every state except for Alaska had a student representative at the conference.

The students worked in groups named after leadership qualities. Bardwil, whose adviser came all the way to the conference from Ghana, Africa, was in the Respect Group, and Anthony was in the Communication Group.

For the mock trial, Bardwil served as the prosecutor in his group. Anthony served as the bailiff in his group.

Bardwil said he tried a couple of people who were caught freeing animals that were reportedly being mistreated in a science center.

"I got to cross-examine the defendant," Bardwil said. "The defendant won the case because the jury was not 95 percent on our side."

The mock trial inspired Bardwil with thoughts of maybe one day becoming a lawyer like his grandfather.

"I thought it was interesting because I had to know what to say and how to say it right to win the trial," he said.

For his group's end project, Anthony said, "We made a trifold board presentation and gave an oral presentation explaining how we can stop cliques and stereotypes and how we can help kids in different kinds of situations."

His group called themselves ESC, which stood for Escape Social Cliques, and worked with the motto "Sometimes it's better to be different and to meet different people because you'll get to do different things," Anthony said.

Bardwil's end project dealt with the three types of bullying: emotional, mental and physical.

"We also learned about why some kids affected by bullying grow up to be adults who don't want to try, don't want to go out and don't want to do anything," he said. "In extreme cases, we learned, bullying can also lead to suicide and death."

Anthony and Bardwil said they would like to see their school organize a club where people can overcome bullying problems. They both said the conference gave them more of a sense of how kids can make a difference in their communities.

"We learned that kids put on wristbands to help stop the Vietnam War," Bardwil said. "We learned that a kid created a plant spray to help keep plants more healthy and riper for a longer period of time."

Anthony added, "We had a speaker come in, and she talked to us about how she got service groups in her community to come to her school so kids could sign up to do community service. She made us see that kids can make a big difference. She was 15 years old, and she got over 300 people to come in."

The young scholars also had opportunities to study and discuss historical leaders. At the Maryland Science Center, students watched an IMAX film about the leader of a Antarctic adventure.

"We saw a show about Shackleton, a leader who tried to get across the Antarctic and had to abandon his men [when the ship got stranded in the ice], Bardwil said. "He had to walk 800 miles in life-threatening conditions and climbed a mountain in those conditions in 36 hours to get help, and none of his men died."

On a trip to Harpers Ferry, the students learned about another famous leader in American history named John Brown. Brown raided Harpers Ferry to stop slavery there, Anthony explained.

The students' advisers had them discuss Brown's leadership qualities.

"Most people [in my group] wanted to follow John Brown because he freed the slaves," Anthony said. "But because he did so in a violent way people weren't sure if they would follow him."

At the conference, the two said they learned that every leader has all six leadership traits. When asked about their leadership qualities, Bardwil said he needs to work on goal setting, communication and character, but he felt confident in his teamwork, respect and problem-solving capabilities.

Anthony said he needs to work on building his character as well as his communication and problem-solving skills but that he is quite confident with his respect, teamwork and goal-setting abilities.

For Bardwil, the conference taught him how to use the power of words and how to start making a difference in his community along with some interesting facts he had not previously known.

"At the Lincoln Memorial, we learned how on the back of his head there is a picture of Gen. Lee," Bardwil said. "They were friends before the war, and the picture shows their friendship."

Bardwil also explained that Lincoln's hands in the monument are actually portraying the American Sign Language symbols for "A" and "L," the president's initials.

For Anthony, who has aspirations of becoming a mystery novel author, the conference was a fun and interesting experience where he learned a lot about different kinds of people and places and made a lot of new friends.

A highlight of the trip for the young men was getting to visit the Maryland Science Center while it was closed to the general public.

"We had the whole place to ourselves," Bardwil said. "We got to run around every floor until about 10 o'clock."

Overall, Bardwil said, "We got to do things most people can't do, and we got to learn a lot of new facts doing them."

He added, "I hope I get many more opportunities like this."

Anthony's mother, Michele, said that at first her son was nervous about attending the conference, but she and her husband explained that it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that could open many new doors for him.

Their words proved accurate, as both boys have already been invited to travel to Boston next year for an alumni reunion.

Bardwil's mother, Cindy, said the trip proved to be a lesson in independence for the boys - who had never before traveled alone - away from home. They also had a chance to get a taste of what college will be like, she said.

"The trip made them feel independent and grown-up," Bardwil said. "It was a growth experience. They came back pretty proud of themselves. They came back little men."

When asked if the trip was worth giving up a bit of their summer for, they both responded that it definitely was and they would do it again in an instant. They said it was an honor for their teachers to have chosen them to go.

Dee Burek, who nominated Bardwil to go on the trip, said the school district has sent numerous students to the conference in the past several years, all of whom have greatly enjoyed it.

She said the program, which is geared for children entering sixth grade and up, "allows kids to push themselves and to learn about the government."

"The program allows the students to experience so many opportunities that we don't have in a small town," Burek said.